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FOREIGN {MISSIONS 


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LETTERS ON THE CONSTITUTION 
OF THE 


AMERICAN BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS. 


{Addressed to the Rev. Davip Aseret, of the Reformed Dutch Church, by one 
of the Secretaries of the Board.] 


LETTER \ F 


Occasion and object of the Letters.—Origin of the American Board, and of its 

Meia! relations to the ecclesiastical bodies of the Presbyterian, Reformed 
Dutch and Congregational churches.—The Board still more intimately con- 
nected with those denominations.—IHas always acted as a national institu- 
tion. 


Dear Broruer,—You state that, from ignorance or 
misapprehension in many minds with respect to the 
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, 
questions are often proposed to which you desire materi- 
als for the proper replies. For this purpose, you ask for 
a precise view of the Constitution of the Board, using that 
term in its most comprehensive sense, with the special 
view of showing the adaptedness of the Board for con- 
ducting the foreign missionary operations of the Reformed 
Dutch church. 

As the Board sustains the same relations to the Pres- 
byterian and Congregational denominations, which it 
does to your own—belonging to each and acting for 


2 Letters on the Constitution 


each in precisely the same senses,—I shall accomplish 
your particular object as well by showing how it is fitted 
to act for all three of these, as if I kept your church 
alone in view. At the same time my statement of the 
case, if I am successful, will meet the wishes of many of 
our friends in the other two denominations. 

The American Board had an ecclesiastical origin, and 
had its first existence, as did the foreign missionary enter- 
prise in this country, among the Congregational churches 
of New-England. It was formed in the year 1810, by 
the General Association of Massachusetts, who appointed 
certain gentlemen residing in Massachusetts and Con- 
necticut a Board of Commissioners, giving to the Board 
at the same time the comprehensive name it now bears. 
In 1812, for the convenience and safety of its fiscal con- 
cerns, it was incorporated by the legislature of the same 
State, and authorized to elect its own members. The 
act of incorporation, if conferred at all, must of course be 
conferred by some one of the States. Its national de- 
nomination was now confirmed to it, and at its next 
meeting, eight members were elected from the States of 
New-York, New-Jersey, and Pennsylvania, (which was 
as far south and west as there appeared at that time to be 
preparation for acting on this subject;) and also five 
others from New-Hampshire, Vermont, and Rhode Isl- 
and. ‘The ecclesiastical bodies of the Congregational 
churches early gave the Board their full recognition. “Its 
patrons, however, have never been confined to that de- 
nomination, nor to New England; although the United 
Foreign Missionary Society was formed with express ref- 
erence to the Presbyterian, Reformed Dutch and Asso- 
ciated Reformed churches, as early as the year 1818. 
This Society was amalgamated with the Board in the 
year 1826, at its own request. In the same year, accor- 
ding to the terms agreed upon for the amalgamation, the 
General Assembly of the Presbyterian church and the 
General Synod of the Reformed Dutch church gave the 
Board their official sanction and recommendation. In 
1831 the General Assembly appointed commissioners to 
confer with the Board relative to the measures best 
adapted to enlist the energies of the Presbyterian church 
more extensively in the cause of missions to the heathen, 
who met and conferred with the Board in the autumn of 


of the American Board. 3 


the same year. ‘These commissioners reported to the 
General Assembly that in their judgment the Board was 
a national institution, belonging as much to one section 
of the country as to another ; that it fully represented the 
Presbyterian, Reformed Dutch and Congregational 
churches, and sustained the same relation to each; that 
the proceedings of the Board had been in strict accord-. 
ance with this relation; that the Board, its Prudential 
Committee, and its missionaries, were under very high 
responsibility to the three denominations and to the 
Christian public, a responsibility peculiarly adapted to 
ensure the purity and efficiency of the whole system ; 
that in raising funds and in other proceedings in this 
country, the various ecclesiastical habits of the people 
had been, and there was every reason to feel assured 
would be, regarded ; that it was wholly inexpedient to at- 
tempt the formation of any other distinct organization 
within the three denominations for conducting foreign 
missions, at least until the concern should become too 
extensive and complicated (if that should ever be) to be 
managed by one institution ; and that it was of the high- 
est importance to their own spiritual prosperity, and to 
the extension of the Redeemer’s kingdom on earth, that 
the ecclesiastical bodies of the individual churches in 
these connections should give the Board their cordial, 
united, and vigorous support.—In 1832 a committee also 
from the General Synod of the Reformed Dutch church 
attended the annual meeting of the Board at New-York, 
and after conference with a committee appointed by the 
Board for that purpose, agreed to a joint report, the ex- 
press object of which was to impart new vigor to the mis- 
sionary operations of that church, conducted through the 
agency of the Board. 

Such in brief is the manner in which the Board has 
acquired its official relations to the general ecclesiastical 
bodies of the Presbyterian, Reformed Dutch, and Con- 
gregational churches. 


There is, however, another and highly important view 
of its relations to these churches. The Board has been 
connected with the Presbyterian church from the year of 
its incorporation, by the very elements of its existence. 
The members originally incorporated were in number 


4 Letters on the Constitution 


eleven. These, immediately after receiving the act of 
incorporation, elected thirteen others, eight of whom were 
from among the most distinguished members of the Pres- 
byterian church. The Board now became, by its very 
nature, connected with the Presbyterian church. In the 
following year, a member was appointed from the Associ- 
ated Reformed church. The present honored Vice 
President of the Board was the first elected from the Re- 
formed Dutch church. This was in the year 1816. In 
1824 another member of that church was elected, and in 
1826 four others. Now the Board is to be regarded as 
being, both in fact and in effect, what its corporate mem- 
bers are. Of these there are eighty-three ; and forty-four 
are Presbyterians, thirty-one are Congregationalists, and 
seven belong to the Reformed Dutch church. ‘These 
numbers are proportionate to the number of communi- 
cants in the respective denominations. Hence the Board 
may, with equal propriety, be regarded as a Presbyterian 
Board, or a Congregational Board, or a Reformed Dutch 
Board. It is, at any rate, as much one as the other, and 
itis no more so. It is so, notwithstanding the Presbyte- 
rians outnumber the Congregationalists by one-fourth; 
notwithstanding the Congregationalists form but little 
more than one-third of the whole body. The most proper 
light, however, in which to regard the Board is neither 
as Congregational, nor Reformed Dutch, nor Presbyte- 
rian, but simply as a Board of CommissioNrrs, or 
Agency, composed of members from each of these denom- 
inations, and designed to act for each of these denomina- 
tions, or for such individuals and churches in them as 
may choose to employ it in conducting missions among 
the heathen. 

The Board has always, since the year 1812, proceeded 
on the ground that it possessed a general and not a sec- 
tarian character. Its agents have ever been sent without 
reserve, into every part of the Union. Its appeals have 
ever been made to the friends of missions throughout the 
republic. It never appealed to Congregationalists as 
such, nor to the people of any one section of the country. 
It has felt and acted as a national institution ; as operat- 
ing within its proper sphere wherever there were friends 
of benighted men who would be disposed to make use of 
its agency, ‘The tie which binds it to every part of the 


af the American Board. 5 


country is in its very nature. This tie was strengthened 
by the amalgamation of the United Foreign Missionary 
Society with it, and by the official sanctions of ecclesias- 
tical bodies ; and it has grown strong, if not indissoluble, 
by the long-continued, general, and liberal patronage of 
the churches in every part of the land; by means of 
which it has, with the blessing of God, brought into exis= 
tence a great and extensive system of missions in the 
heathen world. On that patronage it is dependent for 
the means of supporting this system, and prosecuting the 
enterprise to a successful termination. The right, grow- 
ing out of the past and out of its very nature, to seek for 
missionaries and funds in every State of our nation, it 
can lose only by being shown to be unworthy of general 
confidence as a Board of Commissioners. The Lord 
make its members wise by his wisdom, and preserve them 
from mistaking or disobeying his holy will. 
Iam, &c. 


Lg Oi al ah il eo 


The Board not an ecclesiastical body.—Not a voluntary association.—Posseases 
the advantages claimed for both forms of association. 


Dear Brorner,—The American Board is not an 
ecclesiastical bedy. This is true, notwithstanding its 
ecclesiastical origin; notwithstanding its members are all 
members of the christian church; notwithstanding it is 
obliged, by agreement with the general ecclesiastical 
bodies of the three denominations, to lay its report annu- 
ally before them. The fact is, that appointment by an 
ecclesiastical body, responsibility to an ecclesiastical 
body, and the individual relations of members to the 
churches, are not of themselves sufficient to confer eccle- 
siastical powers on a missionary Board; and without 
ecclesiastical powers how can such a Board be regarded 
as an ecclesiastical body? The American Board has 
none of these powers. It cannot organize churches, nor 
classes, nor presbyteries; it cannot admit members to the 

od | 


6 Letters on the Constitution 


church, nor excommunicate them; it cannot ordain min- 
isters of the gospel, nor silence them; nor can it transfer 
them from one denomination to another, nor change their 
ecclesiastical relations. .The same is true of all the other 
missionary Boards in this country, whether formed by 
ecclesiastical bodies or otherwise. Not one of them pos- 
sesses ecclesiastical powers; not one of them, properly 
speaking, is an ecclesiastical body. All are equally pow- 
erless, in the respects above mentioned, with the Ameri- 
can Board, and that Board has no ecclesiastical power 
whatever. 

Hence, if a missionary, when he comes under the di- 
rection of the American Board, is connected with a 
classes, or presbytery, or association, that connection is 
not thereby in the least affected. There is no feature in 
the constitution of the Board, which prevents the body 
to which he belongs from having the same authority over 
him after the connection has been formed, as it had 
before ; and the ecclesiastical body is just as much bound 
to watch over him as a minister of the gospel, to counsel 
him, and to discipline him in case he needs discipline. 
And when his connection with that ecclesiastical body 
ceases, (if it ever ceases,) it will not be, for it cannot be, 
by any action of the Board, but by regular dismission 
from his ecclesiastical body, that he may join some other 
which has grown up in the field of his missionary 
labors. 

This is an interesting and beautiful feature in the ex- 
isting methods of conducting foreign missions. Tor, 
neither the churches nor their ecclesiastical bodies, as 
such, can devote the time nor acquire the experience 
necessary to the management of a great system of mis- 
sions. It is therefore necessary to appoint trust-worthy 
boards of agency, or to recognize existing boards, for 
this purpose. ‘The American Board has in this respect 
been signally favored, having been employed by the 
churches for a long course of years, and never had its 
wisdom or faithfulness impeached in any quarter. 

The Board takes ordained missionaries and lay assis- 
tants from either of the denominations already men- 
tioned, with all their ecclesiastical relations upon them ; 
and experience has fully shown that there is scope for all 
the direction necessary on the part of the Board, without 


of the American Board. fi 


interfering in the least with those relations, or with the 

performance of any of the duties growing out of them. 
The several missions form churches according to such 
models as meet the views of the majority, Whether they 
shall organize associations, consociations, presbyteries, 
or classes, is determined in the same manner. In the 
missions of the Board among the North American In- 
dians, nearly all the churches are Presbyterian, and as- 
sociated in Presbyteries. In Ceylon they are Congrega- 
tional, and are united by consociation. The mission 
composed of members of the Reformed Dutch church, 
about to sail for the Indian Archipelago, is expected to 
regulate its ecclesiastical matters according to the rules 
of that church. Every where the ecclesiastical proceed- 
ings of the missions of the Board accord and will con- 
tinue to accord with the views of the majority of male 
menibers, every clerical and lay member above the age 
of twenty-one years having the right of voting. 

2. The American Board is not a voluntary association, 
in the common acceptation of that term. <A voluntary 
benevolent association, in the strict technical sense, is 
one which any man may enter by paying a certain sum 
of money annually. Most of our national societies are 
constituted in this manner; and when I allege that the 
Board is otherwise constituted, I by no means intend to 
imply that the mode of organization in those great socie- 
ties does not combine ample means of efficiency and secu- 
rity. I believe it does. WhatI wish is merely to state a 
matter of fact, not unimportant to be mentioned. The 
Board is neither an ecclesiastical association, nor is it a 
voluntary association. No person becomes a voting mem- 
ber by merely contributing to its funds. ‘The act of incor- 
poration restricts the right of voting to the corporate mem- 
bers, who are elected by the members of the corporation, 
by ballot, and only at the annual meetings. Hence the ob- 
jection made against voluntary benevolent associations, 
(whether justly or not,) ‘that a few designing indi- 
viduals, at the places and times of their meetings, might 
easily pervert them, by contributing a trifle to their funds 
and thus obtaining all the powers of members,’ does not 
apply to the Board. No such combination can be made ; 
no such result can happen. ‘The honorary members have 
indeed the right to attend the meetings of the Board, 


8 Letters on the Constitution 


and assist in all its deliberations; and they do attend, in 
greater numbers than the corporate members, and render 
most valuable assistance in the discussions of the annual 
meeting. None vote, however, in any case, except the 
corporate members. Hence the Board cannot properly 
be called a voluntary association, and is not liable to the 
objections alleged against such. At the same time it se- 
cures all the advantages claimed for that class of associa- 
tions, as well as the advantages claimed for associations 
ecclesiastically constituted, as will be shown in the next 
letter. I am, &c. 


DE TOE RST 


Grounds of confidence in the future proceedings of the Board. 


Dear Brotrner,—I believe all acknowledge the Amer- 
ican Board to be at present a safe and efficient instru- 
ment for propagating the gospel of Christ among the 
heathen. Will it continue to be such an instrument ? 
This is our grand inquiry. For, if the churches have a 
reasonable prospect that the Board will answer their pur- 
pose, it is presumed they will not refuse to employ it. 
They certainly will not do so, one would think, unless 
they see a way of throwing more effectual securities 
around some other society differently constituted. 

Among the facts and considerations which have hith- 
erto secured for it the confidence of the churches, and 
which afford all reasonable, if not all possible, security 
for the future, are the following : 

1. The members of the Board, like judges in the best 
administered governments, retain their membership dur- 
ing good behavior ;—the charter making it the only con- 
dition of membership, that the persons duly elected, both 
ministers and laymen, shall possess ‘‘respectable” char- 
acters. The executive committee and officers, on the other 
hand, are elected by the Board annually. In this manner 
the responsible body is placed beyond those agitations that 
often attend elections involving great responsibilities in 


of the American Board. 9 


party times. In fact its proceedings have never yet felt the 
influence of the different parties, which unhappily divide 
large portions of the churches represented in the Board. 
There is no reason to believe that these or any other 
party feelings have exerted any influence whatever in the 
annual ballot for the executive committee and officers, 
In being so far removed by its constitution from the influ- 
ence of interests and feelings of this nature, the Board is 
obviously not liable to the objections on that score, which 
are alleged (whether justly or not) against boards elected 
annually by ecclesiastical bodies. 

2. The character of its members affords strong grounds 
of security. ‘‘A considerable proportion of the members 
were presidents of colleges and professors in theological 
seminaries at the time of their election; and more than 
one-fourth part of the present members sustain one or 
other of these relations. It need not be said that gentle- 
men in these important and responsible stations are exten- 
sively known and highly esteemed. They are also more 
likely than others to be intimately acquainted with the 
character of the missionaries. Another class is com- 
posed of venerable men, both among the clergy and laity, 
who have arrived at an advanced period of life, have dis- 
charged numerous public duties, and are not even sus- 
pected of valuing the little distinction which is implied in 
a selection to these services, except as it may enable them 
to serve God in their declining days, and to bear a distinct 
testimony to the excellence of the missionary cause. A 
small number, of middle age, residing near each other, 
have been selected to manage the executive business of 
the Board; and others, in the same period of life, distin- 
guished for their active exertions in behalf of charitable 
objects, and residing in different parts of the Union, have 
been associated in this body.” Not more than one mem- 
ber is under thirty-five years of age, and all, except three 
or four, are upwards of forty. Nearly two-thirds of the 
whole number are clergymen, the greater part of whom 
have an age and standing which places them among the 
fathers of the church. If the character of the members 
does not afford a guarantee for the integrity of the Board 
and the excellence of its influence in time to come, where 
shall we find an institution, or how shall one be consti- 


10 Letters on the Constitution 


tuted, which may take precedence of it in this respect ? 
Especially when it is considered, 

3. That none are elected members unless they are 
supposed at the time to be interested in the cause of for- 
eign missions. I will not say that every member is actu- 
ally thus interested. If any are not, they never attend 
the meetings of the Board, and are unknown to me. I 
believe there is no other association formed for promoting 
any of the leading religious objects of the day, which 
combines a higher, more general, more intelligent, more 
stable interest among its members, in the object for which 
it was formed—an interest more generally associated with 
the sobriety, observation, experience, circumspection, and 
wisdom of age. In being composed only of those who 
are interested in the object of the association, the Board 
possesses the advantage, pre-eminently, which is claimed 
for voluntary associations. 

4. The annual meetings of the Board are held for no 
other purpose than to attend to the subject of missions to 
the unevangelized nations. In this respect it is not liable 
to the objection made (whether justly or not) against 
boards ecclesiastically constituted, ‘that the bodies which 
constitute them come together for other purposes besides 
attending to the management of the benevolent operations 
entrusted to those boards, and will not be likely, there- 
fore, to give vigilant and efficient attention to them.’ 
The American Board comes together for the sole purpose 
of attending to the business of foreign missions, and its 
sessions usually continue for three days. 

5. The meetings are held in different States, and as it 
is deemed important that the same members should attend 
from year to year, a special provision is made to secure 
that result. The following Regulation of the Board con- 
tains this provision, viz. ‘‘ Kach corporate member of 
the Board, who shall apply to the Treasurer for the same, 
shall be allowed ten cents a mile for travelling expenses 
in attending any annual meeting of the Board, reckoning 
the distance only one way, and the usual route from his 
place of residence to the place of meeting. It is under- 
stood that no one shall receive a greater sum than the 
amount of his actual expenses in going to and returning 
from the meeting ; and that in no case shall more than 
forty dollars be paid to any one member.” It is true the 


of the American Board. 11 


greater part of the members, even of those who make it a 
rule to attend every meeting, receive nothing for their 
travelling expenses. Yet there are members, valuable . 
members too, who, but for this provision, would not have 
been able to attend the meetings, as they have done with 
few interruptions, for many successive years. One most 
useful member, who has felt it his duty to receive his 
travelling expenses, has attended no less than twenty-four 
annual meetings of the Board. Owing, in a degree, to 
the same provision, I am able to state the following 
results. Of the eighty-three members now living, twenty- 
three have each attended five meetings of the Board and 
upwards. Four of these have attended nine meetings; 
one has attended ten; another, twelve; two others, thir- 
teen; two others, fourteen; one other, fifteen; and the 
member above referred to, twenty-four. Of the deceased 
members, one was present at fourteen meetings, one at 
fifteen, and one at seventeen. Meetings thus constituted, 
thus attended, thus occupied and prolonged, cannot be 
otherwise than of immense value to the cause. 

The attendance of so many members from year to year, 
is a point in which the Board obviously has the advan- 
tage of all ecclesiastical bodies composed of delegates 
from associations, classes, or presbyteries, inasmuch as 
the same men do not often attend those bodies for suc- 
cessive years. 

The fact, too, that the meetings of the Board are held 
in different places, some of them widely separated from 
others, renders it impossible that any one section of coun- 
try should acquire undue influence in its annual deliber- 
ations. Since the year 1826, there have been four meet- 
ings in the State of New-York, (viz. two in New-York 
city, and the others at Albany and Utica,) two in Penn- 
sylvania, one in Maryland, one in Connecticut, and one 
in Massachusetts. 

6. Another thing to be considered is, the dispassionate 
and thorough supervision exercised by the Board over the 
proceedings of its executive committee and officers. Its 
annual meetings, as has been remarked, are continued 
three days, and the attention of its members is directed 
exclusively to the subject of foreign missions. [For the 
purpose of bringing the whole Annual Report of the»Pru- 
dential Committee under the distinct consideration of the 


12 Letters on the Constitution 


Board, the several portions of it, after the greater part 
has been heard by the Board, are referred to different 
committees appointed before the actual reading of the 
Report; and it is not approved by the Board until these 
committees have examined the several portions submitted 
to them, and reported upon them. Subjects growing out 
of the proceedings of the year, and any other subjects 
connected with the leading object, may be brought up for 
discussion by any corporate or honorary member ; nor 
has there been any want of business hitherto for occupy- 
ing the three days. Most of the principles which now 
govern the proceedings of the Prudential Committee have 
been discussed in the annual meetings of the Board. 
Cases of difficulty, involving new principles, are generally 
referred by the Committee to the Board at its annual ses- 
sion. Mal-administration on the part of the Prudential 
Committee, could not long escape detection ; and as that 
Committee, meeting weekly and often semi-weekly, has 
always the Treasurer and Secretaries present at its meet- 
ings, it cannot be ignorant of the proceedings of those 
officers. In short, it is impossible that a voluntary asso- 
ciation meeting once a year in a popular assembly, or an 
ecclesiastical body with missions forming but one out of 
many items of business claiming its attention, should ex- 
ercise a supervision over its agents by any means as thor- 
ough as that within the power of the Board. 

7. Consider, also, what opportunity the general eccle- 
siastical bodies of the three denominations have for look- 
ing into the transactions of the Board and its missiona- 
ries. It was one of the terms of the agreement in the 
amalgamation of the United Foreign Missionary Society 
with the Board, and it is one of the standing rules of the 
Board, that as many copies of the Annual Report and 
other printed documents shall be furnished to the General 
Assembly, the General Synod, and the Congregational 
Associations, ‘“‘as shall be sufficient to furnish those 
bodies with the means of information with regard to the 
state and necessities of the Board, its operations, and the 
success which God may grant to its exertions.” In legis- 
lative bodies, where it is deemed specially important for 
the members to become minutely acquainted with the 
report of a committee, that report is printed and dispersed 
among them in a printed form. This is the course taken 


of the American Board. 13 


by the Board. Their Report is dispersed among the 
members of the ecclesiastical bodies in a printed form, 
that the members of those bodies may examine it at their 
leisure, and as minutely as they please; and generally 
some member or agent of the Board is present, who may 
be questioned on any points needing explanation. 

And then, as ecclesiastical bodies, these Associations, 
the General Synod, and the General Assembly have all 
the facilities and scope for inquiry into the ecclesiastical 
and religious state of the missions of the Board, which 
the nature of the case makes possible under any arrange- 
ment. The ecclesiastical relations of our missionaries 
are with ecclesiastical bodies, and not with the Board. 
Those can require reports of missionaries connected with 
them concerning their ecclesiastical proceedings and the 
state of religion within the sphere of their labors; and 
they can counsel, try, censure, suspend the. missionaries 
from their ministerial office, and do whatever else falls 
within the compass of their ordinary and appropriate ec- 
clesiastical duties. 

8. Hence, there can be no more effectual security for 
soundness of faith and purity of practice in missionaries, 
than is afforded by the constitution and usages of the 
Board. The character of its members, their interest in 
the prosperity of missions, the searching and effectual 
supervision afforded by its annual meetings, and the op- 
portunities enjoyed by the various ecclesiastical bodies 
for learning the nature of its proceedings and watching 
over and guarding the faith and practice of its missiona- 
ries ;—all together furnish a degree of security, which 
needs only the influences of the Holy Spirit ( without 
which nothing will be effectual) to keep the entire system 


of its operations purely evangelical. 
Tam, &c. 


14 Letters on the Constitution 


LETTER IV. 


Why the Board has the seat of its operations in Boston.—It exists only by retain- 
ing the confidence of the churches.—TIeasibility and importance of union in the 
Presbyterian, Reformed Dutch, and Congregational denominations. 


Dear Brorner,—The seat of the operations of the 
American Board is in Boston. This was directed by 
Providence, in the first instance, without any peculiar at- 
tachment to place or regard to personal considerations, 
on the part of the members. ‘There are conclusive rea- 
sons, however, why the seat of its operations should con- 
tinue to be where it is, until there be a change of cir- 
cumstances in the case. Its charter would probably 
become inoperative, if its principal offices were removed 
out of the State of Massachusetts. ‘Though New-York 
city is the great emporium of our country, yet there is 
vastly more direct intercourse between Boston and India, 
the Indian Archipelago, and the Sandwich Islands or any 
other part of Polynesia, than between New-York and the 
same parts of the heathen world. ‘The same is true of 
the western and northwestern coasts of America, south- 
ern Africa, and the shores of the Levant. ‘‘ The foreign 
trade of New-York is principally with Europe, South 
America, and Mexico; whereas the foreign trade of 
Boston, though less in amount, is carried on with every 
part of the world; and of course furnishes the means of 
conveying missionaries to almost every heathen country, 
and corresponding with them and supplying their neces- 
sities after their respective stations are formed.” It is a 
strong confirmation of this statement, that most of the 
numerous letters received at the Missionary Rooms from 
southern Africa, the Levant, western, southern and east- 
ern Asia, and the Sandwich Islands; that is to say, most 
of the letters from the missions beyond sea—are brought 
into the ports of Massachusetts. For the reason just 
stated, the Baptist General Convention, which is a na- 
tional institution, has also the seat of its foreign mission- 
ary operations in Boston. 

The facilities for transporting letters and for travelling 
are such, that the domestic proceedings of the Board may 


: of the American Board. 15 


be conducted as efficiently in Boston, as in New-York or 
Philadelphia. A great system of permanent agencies has 
been extended over the country, which can be superin- 
tended as effectively in one place as in the other. The 
whole national territory is divided into eight districts, 
each with its general agent. The eflect of this arrange- 
ment of agencies has thus far been salutary upon the 
churches, and there is every reason to believe it will be 
increasingly so. The local organizations, with a view to 
the raising of funds and missionaries to be employed 
under the direction of the American Board, vary with the 
ecclesiastical habits, circumstances and preferences of 
the people. In the Reformed Dutch church, the business 
of procuring funds and missionaries is in the hands of a 
Board appointed by the General Synod of that church. 
In the southern States, it is in the hands of two Boards, 
denominated Central and Southern, appointed by the 
Presbyterian Synods in that section of the Union. An 
auxiliary has been formed for the valley of the Mississippi, 
which performs the duty in the western States. Anoth- 
er has been formed for the Western Reserve and Michi- 
gan. Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and New-Jer- 
sey form another agency district; New-York another ; 
Connecticut, Rhode-Island and Massachusetts another ; 
and Vermont, New-Hampshire and Maine another. In 
these districts there are no general organizations, but 
each has its Agent, together with numerous associations 
of males and females formed in congregations, or larger 
auxiliaries, or particular arrangements with pastors, ses- 
sions, associations, conferences, presbyteries. All these 
arrangements have one object, so far as funds are con- 
cerned, viz. the regular presentation of the sulject of 
foreign missions, once a year, to every congregation. I 
cannot conceive how at present this system can be super- 
intended more efficiently in New-York or Philadelphia 
than in Boston. ‘The Secretary having charge of the 
correspondence with these agencies, is a Presbyterian. 
Now what shall sustain the American Board, and give 
it influence in the churches and power to do good in the 
heathen world? Not sectarianism. Not party. The 
Board must change its nature and all its habits, and new 
model its missions and its entire system of operations, 
before it could pursue a course which would ensure it 


16 Letters on the Constitution 


sectarian support. And how entirely aloof has it stood 
from party; belonging to none, claimed by none, em- 
ployed by none. 1t makes no appeals to sectarian or party 
feelings. Its humble, prayerful endeavor, in dependence 
on the grace of God, has’ been and is to deserve the Con- 
FIDENCE Of the churches by a judicious and faithful per- 
formance of its duties. ‘This is all the hold it has, or 
seeks to have, on the community. Whatever should de- 
stroy, shake, or weaken in any measure the confidence re- 
posed in it by the churches, would destroy, or diminish in 
the same proportion, its power of operating both at home 
and abroad. The Board has no power separate from the 
hold it has on the confidence and affection of its patrons. 
The ecclesiastical bodies of either of the three denomina- 
tions could at once prostrate its influence in their re- 
pective churches, by showing that it was no longer wor- 
thy of confidence, if such were the fact. But whether 
those bodies sound the alarm, or not, the Board can retain 
the confidence of the churches only by deserving that con- 
fidence. And I rejoice to repeat the declaration of one 
of its deceased Secretaries, that ‘‘ the Board will aim to 
secure the best and most durable interest in the affec- 
tions of the people of God, by doing what is right, and 
leaving the issue to his disposal.” 

The feasibility of union in the prosecution of missions 
to the heathen, by members of the Presbyterian, Re- 
formed Dutch and Congregational denominations, has 
now been shown by experience. No evils in practice 
have grown out of it; none are apprehended. ‘The pro- 
fessed doctrines of these denominations are no more 
unlike than the Catechism of the Westminster Assembly 
and the Articles of the Synod of Dordt; that is, they are 
substantially the same. In their discipline there is little 
difference. ‘They have ‘one Lord, one faith, one bap- 
tism.”” The ministry of each meet on common ground. 
The churches of each respect each other’s constitutions. 
—And as the union is feasible, so it is important. If 
any feel bound to act through some other channel than 
the American Board, I would do nothing to hinder them. 
I am arguing against no existing society, against no exist- 
ing system of operations. My only aim is to present a 
concise and perspicuous view of the constitution of the 
American Board, its relations to its patrons, its adapta- 


of the American Board. 17 


tion to the offices and work for which it exists. Having 
done this—as I trust I have—my object is accomplished. 
If any should question the correctness of some of my 
views, I shall not be drawn into controversy. I do not 
expect the members of any one denomination all to think 
alike on questions of this sort. But, let every man take 
part in the great work of missions to the heathen. Let 
every man act speedily and efficiently through some 
channel, for almost the whole world is still lying in wick- 
edness. That all the disciples of Christ in either of the 
three denominations will act through the American Board, 
I dare not expect. Still the plan of union now existing in 
the Board, if feasible, is highly important. How much 
time, labor, and expense may it save in agencies, in the 
management of funds, in correspondence, in the gen- 
eral direction of affairs. How will it promote christian 
affection; save toil, expense, and v.gor of life in the 
necessary research an: explorations indispensable to an 
intelligent and successful prosecution of the work of for- 
eign missions; and bring the experience gathered from 
the whole system to bear upon every distinct branch of 
the enterprise. ‘“‘ T’o all which is to be added that con- 
stitution of human nature, by which interest and motive 
and effort and reward correspond with the magnitude 
and sublimity of the object presented; creating a moral 
momentum, which declines every division and augments 
steadily up to the highest point of practicable combina- 
tion.” It will not be merely intelligence of the good 
which one denomination has been instrumental in effect- 
ing among the heathen, which will bear upon each mem- 
ber of the denomination, but intelligence of all the good 
effected, under God, through the united efforts of the 
three denominations made to bear directly and power- 
fully upon each member of each denomination. Men 
and women may, in their contemplations, connect their 
donations however small, with the whole system however 
large; and as they hear or read of the saving influence 
exerted upon the natives of our western wilds, and Poly- 
nesia, and China, and Siam, and the Indian Archipelago, 
and India, and central and western Asia, and Africa, 
they may reflect that they were honored with an agency 
in all these triumphs of redeeming grace. 
I am, dear brother, most truly yours. 
wep 


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CORPORATE MEMBERS OF THE AMERICAN BOARD. 





Time of 
Election. 


1813. 
1820. 
1832. 


1820. 
1330. 
1832. 


1818. 
1821. 


1810. 
1818. 
1819. 


1821. 
1821. 
1823. 
1823. 
1826. 
1826. 
1826. 
1827. 
1828. 
1832. 
1832. 
1832. 
1832. 
1834. 
1835. 
1835. 


Maine. 


Gen. Henry SEWALL, Augusta. 

WittiiAm ALLEN, D. D., President of Bowdoin College. 

Enocu Ponp, D. D., Professor in the Theological Seminary at 
Bangor. 


New-Hampshire. 


Joun Hussarp Cuurcn, D. D., Pelham. 
Hon. GEORGE Sutvivan, Exeter. 
Natuan Lorp, D. D., President of Dartmouth College. 


Vermont. 


Hon. CHArtes Marsu, Woodstock. 
Josuua Bares, D. D., President of Middlebury College. 


Massachusetts. 


Witriam Barter, Esq., Newburyport. 

Hon. Witt1Am REED, Marblehead. 

LEonARD Woops, D. D., Professor in the Theological Semi- 
nary at Andover. 

Samuev Hupsarp, LL. D., Boston. 

Warren Fay, D. D., Charlestown. 

Epwarp D. Grirrin, D. D.. President of Williams College. 

Heman Humpnrey, D. D., President of Amherst College. 

Joun Copman, D. D., Dorchester. 

Hon. Lewis Srrone, Northampton. 

Justis Epwaxps, D. D, Andover. 

Joun Tappan, Esq., Boston. 

Henry Hit, Esq., Boston. 

Hon. Samuet T. AnmstTRoONG, Boston. 

Rev. Rurus ANDERSON, Boston. 

Rev. Davip GREENE, Boston, 

CHARLES STODDARD, Esq., Boston. 

Rev. Syitvester Houmes, New-Bedford. 

Rev. Witriam J. ARMsTRONG, Boston. 

Danie Noyes, Esq., Boston. 


20 


Corporate Members of the American Board. 


Connecticut. 


Carvin Cuarin, D. D., Wethersfield. 

Jeremiau Day, D. D. LL. D., President of Yale College. 

Joun Corton Situ, LL. D., Sharon. 

Bennet Tyter, D. D., Professor in the Theological Institute 
at East Windsor. 

Noau Porter, D. D., Farmington. 


New-York. 


James Ricuarps, D.D., Professor in the Theological Semi- 
nary at Auburn. 

EvieHavet Nott, D. D, President of Union College. 

Henry Davis, D. D., Clinton. 

ALEXANDER PRovupritT, D. D., Salem. 

SrrpHen Van ReEnwssEvaEr, LL. D., Albany. 

S. V.S. WitpeEr, Esq., New York city. 

Davip Porter, D. D., Catskill. 

GARDINER SprinG, D. D., New York city. 

ELEazARr Lorp, Esq., New York city. 

NatuanieL, W. Howe ut, LL. D., Canandaigua. 


. Joun Nircuie, Esq., New York city. 


Tuomas De Witt, D.D., New York city. 
Natuan S. 8S. Beman, D. D., Troy, 
Tuomas McAvLey, D. D., LL. D., New York city. 
Orrin Day, Esq., Catskill. 
Zecuaritan Lewis, Esq., Brooklyn. 
James M. Matuews, D. D., Chancellor of the New York Uni- 
versity. 
New Jersey. 


SamvueL MixtuEr, D. D., Professor in the Theological Semi- 
nary at Princeton. 

Puitip Mitiepoter, D. D., Professor in the Theological 
Seminary at New Brunswick. 

ARCHIBALD ALEXANDER, D. D., Professor in the Theological 
Seminary at Princeton. 

THEODORE FRELINGHUYSEN, LL. D., Newark. 

James Carnauan, D. D., President of Nassau Hall. 

His Excellency Perer D. Vroom, Somerville. 


Pennsylvania. 


Asuper Green, D. D., Philadelphia. 

Rogert Ratrston, Esq., Philadelphia, 

Joun Luptow, D. D., President of the University of Pennsyl- 
Vanla. 

Tuomas Braprorp, Esq., Philadelphia. 

Samure. Acnew, M. D., Harrisburg. 

Witiiam Nert, D. D., Germantown. 

Joun McDowe .t, D. D., Philadelphia. 

Corne.ius C. Cuyter, D. D., Philadelphia. 

ALEXANDER HEnRY, Esq., Philadelphia. 


District of Columbia. 


Josrepu Nourse, Esq. 








1826. 
1826. 
1832. 


1834. 
1834, 


1834. 


1826. 
1826. 


1826. 
1834. 
1834. 


1826. 
1834. 


1823. 
1826. 
1832. 
1834, 


1826. 


Corporate Members of the American Board. — 21 


Virginia. 
Gen. Joun H. Cocke, Fluvanna County. 
Wiviiam MaxweE -t, Esq., Norfolk. 
Gronce A. Baxter, D. D., Professor in the Union Theological 
Seminary. 
Tuomas P. Arxrinson, M. D., Halifax County. 
Rey. Witui1am 8S. Prcmer, Richmond. 


North Carolina. 
W. McPuerers, D. D., Raleigh. 


South Carolina. 


Moses WanppeE LL, D. D., Willington. 
Bengamin M. Patmer, D. D., Charleston. 


Georgia. 


Joun Cumminas, M. D., Savannah. 
Josep H. Lumpkin, Esq., Lexington. 
Tuomas GoxtpinG, D. D., Columbus. 


Tennessee. 


CuHartes Corrin, D. D., President of the College in Greenville. 
Isaac AnpeRsoNn, D. D., Professor in the Theological Semi- 
nary at Maryville. 


Ohio. 
Lyman Beecuer, D. D., President of Lane Seminary. 
Rogert G. Witson, D. D., President of the College at Athens. 


James Hoge, D. D., Columbus. 
Rosert H. Bisuor, D. D., President of Miami University. 


Illinois. 
Gipron Bracxksury, D. D. 


The number of Corporate Members who have deceased, is twenty- 


eight. 


There are, besides, twenty Corresponding Members, and fifteen 


hundred and thirty-nine Honorary Members. 


22 





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Number of Missionaries and Assistant Missionaries needed and 
requested by the Board for the year 1836. 





Es 

3 

a= 

9 

ela) 3 

Bigifle 

E\E|2|8 

= IR |e |as 

Countries. —|—|—|— 

Western Africa ;—for Cape Palmas, - - -} 2/1} 1) 1 
European Turkey ;—for Constantinople, Sa- 

lonica, Greece, etc. - - - - - - - -| 2} 2 
Asia Minor ;—for Scio, Caisarea, Galatia, ete. | 6] 2 2 
Syria ;—for Jerusalem, Damascus, Mount 

LOT Rae ee eS are LP aie | Mg ie a 
Nestorians of Persia, - - - - - - - -| 1 Ded 
Mohammedans of Persia, - - - - - - -| 1/1 
Afghanistan, to explore, - = - - = - - Tet 
Thibet, to explore, - - - - - - - - -| 11 
Rajpoots, to be stationed at Ajmere, - - -]| 3] 1 
Mahrattas, with a view to new stations, - -| 6] 1 
Tamul people of Southern India, - - 10} 1) 1) 2 
Singapore ;—for the Chinese, Bugis, Malay, 

and Siamese languages—to take charge of 

epee oes and the peminay, 6| 1) 1) 3 
Siam,- - - - - - - ais -| 4 
The Chinese j—to be acquiring the tenet 

and preparing forlabor, - - - - - -| 15} 3 
Indian Archipelago ;—for Sumatra, Nyas, 

Celebes, Borneo, etc. - - - - - - -| 12] 4 
Sandwich Islands, - - - - - - - - =| 16] 3/21 
Cherokees, - = = - - - = > - = = 1 
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107 |29|50\11 


Summary of the Missions of the American Board. 


The number of missions under the care and direction of the American 
Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, is thirty-two, embracing 
seventy-eight stations. One hundred and nine ordained missionaries are 
connected with these missions, of whom seven are regularly educated 
physicians. There are also nine physicians not ordained, eight printers 
and book-binders, thirty other male assistants, and one hundred and 
sixty-one married and unmarried female assistants ;—making a total of 
three hundred and seventeen missionaries and assistant missionaries sent 
from this country by the Board. There are also four native preachers, 
and fifty-one other native assistants. ‘The churches gathered among 
the heathen by the missions of the Board amount to forty-one, contain- 
ing upwards of two thousand members. In the schools there are twenty- 
one thousand pupils, receiving, in a greater or less degree, a christian edu- 
cation. Seven languages have been reduced to writing, and books pre- 
pared and printed in them, by the missionaries of the Board. The Jan- 
guage of the Sandwich Islands, in particular, after being reduced to the 
most simple form of writing, bas been enriched by the New Testament 
and portions of the Old, and by books illustrating the elementary prin- 
ciples of the most useful sciences. The germs of future colleges of 
sanctified learning have been planted in a number of the missions; and 
in Ceylon a college, in fact, exists already, containing about one hun- 
dred and thirty pupils, more than three-fourths of whom give hopeful 
evidence of piety. The Board has nine printing establishments, at four 
of which there are the means of manfacturing type, and at two are foun- 
deries for stereotyping. Measures have also been taken to secure to 
China the benefits of metallic printing. These printing establishments 
possess the means of printing in nineteen or twenty languages, spoken 
by people for whose special benefit the missions are designed, and 
spoken too by more than four hundred and fifty millions of haman 
beings. The amount of printing since the Board commenced its opera- 
tions, is nearly one hundred millions of pages, in nineteen langua- 


ges. 


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